~ Perspective from Vancouver

Tsawwassen Mills 2 – The Contradiction

So far, Tsawwassen First Nation has had a pass on the Mills; it’s been too uncomfortable for most to criticize, given past relations and the need to promote economic opportunity. But the contradiction between word and deed is too glaring to ignore for much longer, given the precedent it sets.

They can say this:

Indigenous peoples are caretakers of Mother Earth and realize and respect her gifts of water, air and fire. First Nations peoples’ have a special relationship with the earth and all living things in it. This relationship is based on a profound spiritual connection to Mother Earth that guided indigenous peoples to practice reverence, humility and reciprocity.

It is also based on the subsistence needs and values extending back thousands of years. Hunting, gathering, and fishing to secure food includes harvesting food for self, family, the elderly, widows, the community, and for ceremonial purposes. Everything is taken and used with the understanding that we take only what we need, and we must use great care and be aware of how we take and how much of it so that future generations will not be put in peril.

Or do this:

As they say, location is everything. The Tsawwassen site is located far away from much of the population, where population density is nearly absent. It is in a rural/agricultural area with the ocean on one side, First Nation land on the other, and the small suburb of Tsawwassen to the south.

There are also no vital transportation routes to support such large commercial destinations that will likely only offer the same retail choices also found in shopping centres conveniently located elsewhere in the region. It is nowhere near SkyTrain, the area has sub-par bus service, and Highway 17 goes nowhere and is not a major road route except to the ferry terminal and Deltaport.

More importantly, for relatively little economic return, the developments waste a large section of some of the country’s best farmland. Its location and design (think: lots of asphalt) will also further encourage urban sprawl and car use in the region; it completely goes against the region’s aims of density and sustainability.

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13 thoughts on “Tsawwassen Mills 2 – The Contradiction”

One can only hope it fails miserably. That won’t undo the damage but would hopefully deter more such lunacy.
It is unfortunate that our society has beaten the values out of the First Nations. We must be careful not to blame them. It’s not surprising that some of them have become us.
We all lose.

Cut those figures in half since only a tiny fraction would stop on their way to the ferry. I’d think the people of Nanaimo would have had enough of malls, so cut further. Would it attract Island shoppers as a destination? Not with the whining about ferry fares. Maybe they’ll pick up a little bit of business from those looking to buy goods specifically for their trip. But it won’t likely be things they really need.

I think they’re counting on those ferry passengers but I think they’ve probably misjudged. More and more people are taking the bus to the ferry too. They won’t stop.

Nobody on their way TO the ferry is going to stop for fear of loosing their place in line. That only leaves people coming FROM the ferry, and I’m even skeptical of how many of those would want to stop off at a shopping mall.

It’s very sad that the widely discredited economic model of auto-centric malls from the Sputnik generation lives on in 2016. It’s sad that so much irreplacable farmland was consumed to build it. It’s profoundly sad that Gordon Campbell brought the Tsawwassen into a deal that could fail without even working up a sweat; after 155 years of oppression and unrealized opportunities, it surely looked like the Golden Goose.

The result of this dealmaking initiative cannot be termed justice in the fullest meaning of the word.